Top 25 football roundup: No. 3 Georgia holds off No. 7 Notre Dame 23-17

Jake Fromm threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Cager early in the fourth quarter and No. 3 Georgia, getting a tougher fight than many expected, held off No. 7 Notre Dame 23-17 on a raucous Saturday night between the hedges in Athens, Georgia.

The Bulldogs (4-0) trailed 10-7 at halftime but turned the momentum when redshirt freshman Divaad Wilson intercepted a pass by Ian Book deep in Notre Dame territory. The Fromm-to-Cager combination gave Georgia a 23-10 lead, but the Fighting Irish (2-1) had a chance at the end.

Book’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool cut the deficit with 3:12 remaining, the Notre Dame defense held, and Book got the ball back at his 48 after a poor punt with just under 2 minutes to go.

(1) Clemson 52, Charlotte 10: Trevor Lawrence threw two first-half touchdown passes and the Tigers (4-0) won their 19th straight by overwhelming the 49ers (2-2) in Clemson, South Carolina.

Lawrence and the Tigers put the first matchup between the teams away in a hurry. Lawrence threw a 58-yard touchdown toss to Tee Higgins, and K’Von Wallace scored on a 66-yard interception return to give Clemson a 14-0 lead in the first 5 minutes. Lawrence came out of the game after throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Cornell Powell on the first play of the second quarter.

Charlotte, which had been averaging 47 points a game, had no chance to rally against Clemson’s defense.

(2) Alabama 49, Southern Miss 7: Tua Tagovailoa passed for 293 yards and five touchdowns in just three quarters and the Crimson Tide (4-0) rolled the Golden Eagles (2-2) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Tagovailoa had his second straight five-TD game and the Crimson Tide raced to a 28-0 lead in the first 19 minutes in another lopsided victory. Last season’s Heisman Trophy runner-up completed 17 of 21 passes.

The Golden Eagles couldn’t keep up with speedy Tide receiver Henry Ruggs III early. Ruggs had a career high in receiving yards even before the first quarter ended, with touchdowns of 45 and 74 yards in the opening 9 minutes.

(4) LSU 66, Vanderbilt 33: Joe Burrow tossed four of his school-record six touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase and threw for 398 yards to lead the Tigers (4-0) past the Commodores (0-3) in Nashville, Tennessee.

LSU beat Vanderbilt the eighth straight time and improved to 12-5 in Nashville in the first game between these SEC charter members since 2010.

The Tigers showed off their new high-powered offense, scoring their most points this season and most ever in regulation against an SEC opponent. They needed 2:11 or less on their first seven scoring drives, and LSU scored 4 seconds after Micah Baskerville returned an onside kick 46 yards to open the third quarter on Burrow’s fifth TD pass.

(6) Ohio St. 76, Miami (Ohio) 5: Justin Fields threw for four touchdowns and rushed for two scores in the second quarter as the Buckeyes (4-0) cruised past the RedHawks (1-3) in Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes, stunned by Fields’ early end-zone fumble and safety, only led 7-5 after the first quarter. But that changed quickly as Fields hit K.J. Hill with a 53-yard touchdown pass and then ran for a 7-yard score 32 seconds later. It was all Ohio State the rest of the way, with backups mopping up throughout the second half.

After four straight blowouts to start the 2019 season, Ohio State expects to find the going a little more difficult as it gets into the meat of the Big Ten schedule beginning next week at Nebraska, followed by a home game against Michigan State.

(8) Auburn 28, (17) Texas A&M 20: Bo Nix threw a touchdown pass and JaTarvious Whitlow ran for a score as the Tigers (4-0) built a big lead and withstood a late charge from the Aggies (2-2) in College Station, Texas.

Nix didn’t put up flashy numbers against the Aggies, but he looked poised and didn’t make any big mistakes in his first true road game in front of a rowdy crowd of 101,681. Fellow freshman Joey Gatewood replaced Nix for a few snaps throughout the game and he threw his first career touchdown pass in the first quarter.

The Tigers were up 21-3 before A&M finally got going on offense in the fourth quarter. Mond cut the lead to 21-10 with his first touchdown pass early in the fourth before Auburn added a touchdown rushing. But the Aggies made a field goal before Mond connected with Ainias Smith on a 15-yard TD pass with just over 2 minutes left to get them to 28-20.

(9) Florida 34, Tennessee 3: Kyle Trask threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns in his first start in nearly seven years and the Gators (4-0) extended their dominance over the Volunteers (1-3) in Gainesville, Florida.

Trask’s first collegiate start was far from perfect, though. The fourth-year junior lost a fumble and threw two interceptions against the Volunteers.

But he did enough to overcome those miscues and lead Florida to its 14th win in its last 15 games against Tennessee. Trask completed 20 of 28 passes, none better than the ones that went for touchdowns to Kyle Pitts and Freddie Swain.

(13) Wisconsin 35, (11) Michigan 14: Jonathan Taylor ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns, Jack Coan added a career-high two rushing touchdowns and the Badgers (3-0) routed the Wolverines (2-1) in Madison, Wisconsin.

Taylor had 143 yards and both scores in the first quarter, including a 72-yarder. He missed the second quarter due to cramps, but the 2018 Doak Walker Award winner returned in the third to finish with 23 carries to help the Badgers avenge a 38-13 loss to the Wolverines last season in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Michigan’s struggles to hold on to the ball continued as the Wolverines suffered another embarrassing loss under coach Jim Harbaugh. Michigan is 1-6 on the road against ranked opponents under Harbaugh, who took over the program in 2015.

(12) Texas 36, Oklahoma State 30: Sam Ehlinger passed for four touchdowns and the Longhorns (3-1) ended four years of frustration against the Cowboys (3-1) in Austin, Texas.

Ehlinger had his third four-touchdown passing game of the season for the Longhorns, who had lost four in a row to the Cowboys. Texas also had lost its last five home games in this series dating back to 2010.

The Texas defense held Oklahoma State’s two big offensive weapons – running back Chuba Hubbard and wide receiver Tylan Wallace – mostly in check.

Pittsburgh 35, (14) UCF 34: Wide receiver Aaron Matthews hit quarterback Kenny Pickett on a 3-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining and the Panthers (2-2) stunned the Knights (3-1) in Pittsburgh.

The Panthers (2-2) ended UCF’s 25-game regular-season winning streak on a play head coach Pat Narduzzi called the “Pitt Special” in a nod to the Philadelphia Eagles, who ran a similar play two seasons ago in their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

Pitt trailed by six when Pickett drove the Panthers to the UCF 3. Running back A.J. Davis took a direct snap with Pickett going in motion. Davis handed the ball to Matthews, who rolled to his right and hit Pickett in the end zone. UCF’s last-gasp drive went nowhere.

(21) Virginia 21, Old Dominion 17: Zane Zandier returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown, part of a dominant defensive second half, as the Cavaliers (4-0) held off the Monarchs (1-2) in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Old Dominion’s failed fourth-down try in its own territory set up Virginia’s go-ahead score, a 7-yard touchdown run by Wayne Taulapapa with 10:16 to go for a 21-17 edge.

The Cavaliers are off to their best start since opening 5-0 in 2004.

SMU 41, (25) TCU 38: Shane Buechele threw for 288 yards with two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Mustangs (4-0) downed the Horned Frogs (2-1) in Fort Worth, Texas, ending a seven-game losing streak in the rivalry.

The Mustangs went ahead to stay after jumping ahead 15-0 in less than 10 minutes. Their last 4-0 start came when TCU and SMU were Southwest Conference rivals, and not long before crippling sanctions led to the NCAA’s so-called death penalty when the Mustangs didn’t field a team in 1987 and 1988.